On Diets, Gyms and Evening Walks !

I have been having weighty issues ever since I moved out of Chennai. Chennai for some reason ensured that I stay put with my less than 45 kgs weight. The sweaty climate or walking miles everywhere or lack of friends to hog and splurge, Chennai had all reasons why I always maintained my 45kg figure 😉

Flash back 1985-2009 – I was always a skinny kid and my mom made sure I visited every new paediatrician in town so that I gain some weight with medical assistance. There was in- fact a funny incident where she took me to a doctor and complained that I drink only tea and refuse to take milk either plain or with Bournvita and its likes. The doctor’s response was “Doesn’t tea have milk in it?” and I burst out laughing. But I can totally imaging my parents plight. Being bony also meant I was more susceptible frequent illnesses. The frequent bouts of fever would mean drop in my weight and resistance. In-short I had an “under-weight” childhood. Being skinny was a boon in college since it meant I could wear anything.. Especially since I was in a place like Chennai I had to make sure I had the right body to wear those kinda clothes. And by “those- kind-of” I mean jeans and short Tee’s 😀 which in itself was a big deal in West Mambalam.

Come 2010 – I moved to Hyderabad. Things were ok initially but sooner I fell prey to the “Rice and chutney” culture of Hyderabad. Hyderabad which is known for its food din’t spare me as well. What doctors with foreign degrees and my mother with immense love couldn’t do, Hyderabad did!! Mouth watering food of Hyderabad coupled with DH’s ( my fiance then) heavy pay check resulted in a sudden and steep increase in my weight. Believe it or not in no time I had put on 10 kgs. When I realised it, it was too late. Then came our marriage followed by a series of treats, my weight start raising more and more in an upward direction. Couple of other health issues and my weight refused to come down.

Its been almost an year since I have been having these weighty issues and I have lost count of the number of diet plans I have made, the exercise regimes, short stints at local gym. Nothing works out :(. May be I am not used to this at all. After-all it takes a while to accept and acknowledge the transition from being under-weight to over-weight and that too within just a couple of years. Since I am used to people forcing me to eat always its difficult to even think of GM diets now. I could eat whatever I wanted , when I was in college and still stay slim. Gone are those days.. Every singe calorie counts now..

I have tried almost everything. Diets were never my cup of tea. I would soon yield to temptation or would start feeling so sick that I would blame the diet for it.

Gym always made me nauseous. The moment I step out of treadmill I feel I am floating in the air. And I hate that feeling!! Few minutes of cycling would leave me panting for breath.

Of various unsuccessful attempts “Evening Walk” is the only thing that I am close to following. Although the needle in my weighing scale refuses to move backwards I am still continuing it with a hope that someday it might move itself from 50’s to 40’s.

Although it was very difficult initially to get myself into the walking habit, I soon acquainted to it.Some things that work for me are:

Good expensive shoes– I bought a good and expensive pair of shoes. The price of the shoe reminds me that I need to put that into use and thus inspires me to walk :-d

Nice music- I do not carry my iPod but I listen to Fm. Delhi FM is good enough and I get to hear all the latest numbers..

A good telephone conversation– I do this to distract myself from the mundane especially since I walk alone..

Timings-Schedule the timings such that you have nothing else during that time. I walk from 5 Pm to 6 Pm since this is a time when I have nothing else to do. Its too early for my dinner preps and too late for afternoon siesta. So I generally walk during this time of the day.

Ofcourse there are people who are inherently motivated and do not need these external props. I am not one! I stick to the above things and it has kept me going close to 3 weeks.

I will start journaling my weightloss regime and walks more on this blog. I am equally eager to see where this journey goes.